JOYN

There are so many beautiful stories with JOYN but this one is so special to me. Tom, one of the artisans, took me into the market to show me around. She was very quiet but she was so sweet. At one point she said, “Can I take you to meet my mom? She works at a carpet workshop.” “Sure, I would love to meet your mom.” We hopped into a taxi and off we went. We got there and I met her mom and she showed me around. She was so excited to introduce me to the ladies in the workshop. As we headed back, I looked at Tom and said, “Tell me your story.”

She said when she was younger, she was addicted to alcohol and sex. She said, “I just wanted to be loved. But I learned, no one ever loved me.” She said, “I started working for JOYN and for the 1st time I felt that someone actually cared about me. I heard about Jesus. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. For once in my life, I felt loved. I felt Jesus loved me.” She accepted the Lord and her family and friends didn’t want to have anything to do with her. She felt very alone but she had Jesus and her friends at JOYN. After a little time went by, her mom reached out to her. “She saw a difference in me and wanted to know why. I told her about Jesus. She has since accepted the Lord.” Now I knew why it was so important for me to meet her mother. She said, “My name really isn’t Tom, they called me that because I was a tom boy. My name is Tsering.” I said, “What a beautiful name. Thanks Tsering for telling me your story.” She reached over with a smile so big on her face and gave me a hug.